Three of a Kind
by Secret Sheik
Summary: AU. Not another crappy college fic, hopefully! Don't like? Don't read! Itachi, Kisame, and Sakura have strange adventures; Pein and Konan try hard to not do anything against the wall. Pein/Konan. Kisa/Saku Rated for upcoming things and stuff. Read inside.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I dread writing this. I really do. There are SO many horrible AU school related fics out there. SO SO MANY. I hate them. Really. However, I hate the excessive drama, and how completely unlike HS/college the situations really are. I don't hate AU school fics. I just hate the immense drama. Hopefully I won't fail horridly. This fic is mostly college randomness. There's some pairing, maybe more later if I feel like it, but mostly randomness. This fic is made for the Sakura Oekaki board! Thanks for all of your help in suggesting things for this fic! Please keep in mind that what with this being AU, the characters have had completely different lives up until this point so they might be somewhat OOC. I also don't know shit about math. Expect discrepancies.

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Three of a Kind - Ch. 1

It's business as usual for Sakura. She was fortunate enough to get high enough test scores to join a private college, uniforms and all. She graduated in the top ten percent of her class, though she missed valedictorian by a few points. However, she wouldn't let it get to her. Her new school was full of interesting characters, but the most peculiar pair just happened to be in her math class. Uchiha Itachi... he had actually made valedictorian, and after seeing him rise quietly to solve an extremely complicated math problem on the board, she wasn't surprised. It was math that had killed her scores, it had only been two questions. The guy sitting next to the quiet, refined, handsome Itachi was the strangest guy she had ever seen. Hell, he looked for all the world to be an overgrown fish. Hoshigake Kisame, that was his name. Odder still, Itachi and Kisame had been friends since early childhood from what she had heard, and always sat in the same classes right next to each other.

She sighed. Well, it wasn't up to her to judge anyway. He seemed alright, even if he didn't seem to want to volunteer to be in front of the class like Itachi did. Their professor was a piece of work too. He insisted on simply being called "Professor" and she didn't even know what his real name was. It probably said somewhere on her schedule, but every time she thought to look at it, she quickly forgot. His flaming orange hair spiked out seemingly of its own accord, but his bored expression and tired gray eyes made everyone know he didn't really want to come to work today.

Her chin poised on her hand, she lapsed in and out of attentiveness, bored with watching the scratching of chalk on the board as Itachi wrote away. The Professor had initially called on Kisame, but Itachi immediately volunteered in Kisame's place. Kisame seemed relieved, and she quickly figured that this was how they had worked all the time they knew each other. Fortunately for him, The Professor didn't care who solved the problem as long as someone did it. Although the college was private and attracted more serious students, the students here ranged from attentive to outright asleep.

A sharp rap on the door brought everyone to attention, the dean of the school letting himself in. He was an older man in his fifties, graying and balding at the same time, but a kind smile on his face. With a shrug of apology, he stepped closer. "Sorry for interrupting your class, but we have a new addition this year. I hope you don't mind training an intern."

The Professor closed his eyes, obviously holding in a sigh. Well, maybe an intern could help with the students a little. Then again, the last one had been... interesting. He didn't really have much of a choice. "Very well. I'll do what I can."

"Well... just don't throw this one out the window, alright?" He chuckled, opening the door, letting in the new intern. Every mouth in the room dropped -except Itachi's- as the gracefully curvy blue-haired woman entered the room, looking over the class cautiously. As the dean left, she approached the front of the room, bowing politely. "Hello, class. You may call me Konan, pleased to meet you."

Itachi turned away indifferently, returning to solving the problem, but that was the only noise in the room as The Professor's eyes widened slightly, a blush quickly spreading across his face. He recovered quickly, gesturing to the side of the classroom. "Er... well, you can just watch for today if you want. I... uh... well." He yanked at his tie. Was it getting warmer in here? "Itachi here is one of our brightest, he's showing us all how to solve this problem." His smile was nervous, and he turned back to the task at hand, pointing to one area of the problem. "Like right here, you need to replace x with y."

She stepped closer, looking over his shoulder with interest. While getting a better look, she bumped into his back slightly, making him turn even redder. However, she was unaware of what she was doing, and adjusted her glasses, pointing to another area. "Right, and here, z is equivalent to one, not two."

"Y-yes, right... it... it is." He waved her away again. "For today though, just watch, please." He stifled a sigh of relief when she stood against the wall. A few of the students were snickering, knowing darn well what just went on there. Who could blame him, though? The woman was a bombshell, her business uniform hugging her curves, tiny shirt showing just enough leg, cleavage readily visible. Not to mention, those cute little glasses on her nose nearly killed him. Her hair was an exotic blue, too, a natural blue even, accenting her pale blue eyes. Damn, he was sweating.

Itachi saved him from further humiliation. "I am finished, sir."

"Excellent..." He took the save with great relief, examining the problem before pointing to the end result for the class to see. "Here is a great example of inverting fractions and cross canceling. When you have two problems within parentheses, what do you do then?" His eyes scanned the class. "Kisame?"

Kisame jerked in his seat with a start. "Uh..."

Itachi started to cut in, but Sakura held up her hand. "You multiply the first sequence in the first set of parentheses by the first set in the second, and then the second set in the parentheses the same way, and so on if you have more."

The Professor blinked with surprise at the outburst, but nodded. "That's right, thank you miss.. uh..." He glanced down at the class roster on the podium. "Miss Haruno. Ah yes, Miss Haruno Sakura, right? Thank you. And could you remind us of the order of operations?"

She stood. "Parentheses come first, followed by multiplications and divisions, from left to right. Then you do all adding and subtracting."

"Thank you. You may be seated. Now as for inverting fractions..."

As he droned on, his back turned to the class, Sakura caught Kisame's eye. He gave a thumbs-up, and she offered him a grin in return. She expected it to end there, but he made another gesture to her, looking like the opening and closing of invisible chopsticks. His brows raised questioningly. Did he want her to join them for lunch? He then made an exaggerated gesture of being so full he could barely move, complete with a hilarious, bulging face. She couldn't help it. A small giggle brought the entire room's attention to her. The Professor froze, then turned around.

"Yes? You find something funny about quadratic equations?"

She didn't even realize he had gone on to a different problem. Quick, Sakura, think! "Uh..."

Kisame waved dismissively. "Nah, it's nothing, Prof, I was just telling her a story about a time I had to use one of those quadratic equations. It was funny, you know?"

The man folded his arms against his chest, completely unamused. "No, I don't know. Please, share this story with us, it might be relevant to the problem at hand."

Kisame was completely unperturbed, making a story up as he went. "Well hey, you see, where I come from, there's a lot of fish, and--"

"Yeah we figured!" someone hooted from the back.

"...anyway, my buddy Zabuza and I figured out one time that we could use this equation to figure out how many fish we could fit in our boat. Well you know, we could only eat so many of them too, so that had to be in the equation too, figuring out how many we would need before they spoiled..."

"You are what you eat!" shouted another anonymous character. A sharp, menacing glare silenced any other idiots in the crowd.

"ANYWAY... after figuring this problem out, we could always go out and catch exactly what we needed. Zabuza was so impressed, he said to me one day, damn, Kisame, you suppose there would be a way we could use this equation to find out the measurements of every girl in town?" Kisame snickered. "So I said what, you mean like the average size of the bust minus the amount of times you get slapped?"

Sakura laughed at that. She couldn't help it, it was funny. That, and she was helping to cover for Kisame's story. Other students found this funny in their own way, some having an outright laugh attack, clutching their desks. The Professor slapped his hand on the podium, bringing everyone to attention. "Well, Kisame, the first half of the story _was_ surprisingly relevant." He turned back, pointing to part of the equation. "See, here would be a constant, the weight of your boat, and here would be the fish you could carry. Once you subtract how many you will actually eat, you are left with a climbing variable of how many you need to throw back."

As soon as he turned his back again, explaining more math, Itachi returned to his seat next to Kisame. She was sitting on the other side of Kisame, and gave the shark her own thumbs-up. He grinned wide with teeth that looked unusually sharp, the smirk almost menacing. It might have unsettled someone with a weaker constitution, but she could tell by the wide set of his jaw that he really couldn't grin without seeming like he was about to eat whatever he grinned at.

Itachi was staring. Not the kind of stare she got from the guys that thought she was pretty, no. He was just staring blankly, intensely, with no sort of emotion on his face. No, Kisame wasn't creepy at all, but Itachi sure was. He finally turned back to watch the chalkboard and Sakura felt like a great weight lifted from her shoulders. Looking in those eyes was like carrying a ton of bricks. At least Kisame had a way of lightening the mood.

"...which brings us to the solution here. Miss Haruno!"

She sat up, startled. "Yes sir?"

"As for this problem here, on the right, could you show us how to solve this one?" He smiled at that. He knew she had been spacing off while his back was turned. Even he had a bit of trouble with this kind of math. That would teach her to pay attention.

She stared up at the figures on the board. Factoring? That was easy, at least for her. Well, at least as long as she used the right algorithm. It had been intricate geometry that had tripped her up in the past. Algebra, though, was no problem at all. Grabbing a bit of chalk, she turned around briefly. "For factoring large numbers, you would use this factoring algorithm here to solve the problem..." Quick strokes marked the start of the algorithm. X is... replace it with that... Right. "And once you have substituted the variables for the right numbers, you can solve the equation piece by piece." When she at last came to the solution, she turned to the teacher to make sure she did it right.

"Ah... very good. Yes..." He stood there, puzzled. Well didn't that just beat all. So much for the real lesson. Maybe she could solve the final problem on the board... "How about the last problem here? Can you solve that one? I don't expect you to, I put this up here to remind all of you that there are much greater things to come in your future math classes."

Indeed, Sakura had no idea how to solve it. It was beyond her comprehension, involving too many square roots, too many variables and fractions all in the same problem. She brushed it off with a nervous laugh, scratching her head. "No sir, I don't know this one."

"Thank you, yo may be seated." As soon as she had returned to her seat, he gestured lazily to the last problem. "Again, I don't expect any of you to answer this problem right, but if by the end of the year you can solve this problem, I'll give you extra credit. Now--"

"Sir?" Konan spoke up, her hand raised slightly. "If I may, sir...?"

His brows raised with surprise. "Yes? Did you want to add something to this?"

She smiled, simply walking up to the front and taking up a piece of chalk. He moved aside, watching. With a soft scratch, she began to work on what looked to everyone else like the hardest math problem ever. Nobody moved, didn't even breathe, as she quietly tapped away at the board, often changing positions to follow the order of operations properly. Several minutes passed, the problem as hard as it was. With one final stroke, she paused, the problem complete. A small smile lit her face and she straightened, turning to him. "Did I get it right... Professor?"

He tried to gulp down a lump forming in his throat. Why did she have to look at him like that? Standing against the wall like she had, he had _almost_ been able to forget about her. Almost. Now she had to go and bring attention to her again. Her and her shapely lips pouting in an innocent smile, those cute rimless glasses letting her eyes just peek over the top so perfectly... No! Stop thinking like that! With a mental shake of his head, he glanced at her solution briefly. "Well... I've never had to teach the advanced classes, so I can't be sure, but I could ask one of the advanced professors if you wish."

As impossible as it might have seemed, her expression grew even more adorable as she clasped her hands in front of her. "That would be wonderful, I want to know that I'm doing alright." Her mouth slid into a wider smile, which he secretly found very attractive. "Does this mean I get extra credit?"

Pause. He couldn't think of anything to say. "Uh..." Just then, the tall clock tower outside chimed noon, everyone suddenly getting up to exit the class. He choked down a sigh of relief at the intervention, stacking up his papers as he too got ready to go. Finally back in the real world and not this strange little place she seemed to make his mind go, he was able to brush her off. "Well it's time for lunch, Miss Konan, feel free to go around and introduce yourself to the other teachers, I'll be down in the lounge eating."

She chuckled at that. "There's no need to dissemble, I'm sure you don't want the stress of an intern around you all the time, but if you don't mind, once I'm done with introducing myself to the others, I'd like to come down to the lounge also."

"Uh well..." He was cut off by Kisame brushing past him, barely missing running full into him.

"Sorry Prof. Hey, hey, if you ever wanna use that joke, you sure can!" He grinned wide, the same menacing look on his face. "I've got clean ones, dirty ones, and good ones, in that order."

The Professor didn't look impressed, a blank, slightly aggravated look on his face. "I'll... be sure to let you know if I ever find a use for your kind of humor."

Kisame thumped his shoulder so hard he stumbled, then moved on with a casual wave. "Alright Prof, I'll be waiting!"

Sakura passed by him next, smiling slightly and shrugging. Well, that was Kisame, after all. "See you tomorrow, sir."

Itachi had more grace than that, bowing slightly as he passed by. "Until tomorrow, Professor Pein."

So that was his name. Leave it to Itachi to know that. Pein only half-waved with a tired look. "Yeah." Oh well. At least some students here were dedicated to their classwork. Maybe those three could try and set a good example for the rest of the class. Maybe.

* * *

Sakura was actually glad she had lunch at the same time as Itachi and Kisame. Though Itachi was a little creepy at first, he was actually pleasant to talk to. When he talked. Kisame, however, couldn't seem to _stop_ talking, and Itachi pretty much just let him do whatever he liked. Without them, though, she wouldn't have known who to sit with since hardly anyone she had known before came to this school. Everyone else had gone to public colleges in different towns. She knew Shikamaru could have gone here if he wasn't so damn lazy. Even so, her new friends made it easier to start off on the right foot.

A tall, blond, blue eyed girl spotted their table, waltzing up to Itachi instantly. She looked starry-eyed, and Sakura held in a gag. Yeah, she was pretty, but she looked like a ditz. Even her voice was annoying, sounding coy. "Itachi, right? You mind if I sit with you?"

Itachi brushed her off without a second glance, his eyes slitting closed. "I mind."

She didn't give up, changing her strategy from being coy to being playful. "I won't be a bother, I have nobody else to sit with!"

He glanced up at her, then out at many other empty chairs around the room. "There's room enough for you elsewhere."

"Oh, they're all boring! I'd much rather sit with you!"

"I'd much rather you didn't." He brushed her off with a wave, though he gave Kisame a glance. Kisame seemed to understand the subtle look well.

"Please? I'll be quiet!"

Kisame leaped to his feet, hands on the table, a mock snarl on his face, growling. That was all it took to send the girl running for safety. With a thankful sigh, Itachi returned to his food. "Thank you, Kisame."

Sakura scoffed at that. "I take it this happens a lot?"

Itachi sighed again. "Yes."

Kisame grimaced after the girl briefly before looking back. "All the fucking time! Those stupid girls!"

She smirked a little at that. "So why are you letting me sit with you?"

"You're not a moron."

Itachi nodded slightly. "You are here because did not ask to be here."

Kisame shrugged at that. "Yeah, pretty much. When was the first meeting for kendo club again?"

"It's next week."

"Hey, yeah, um... what's your name again, girl?"

She let out a short laugh. "It's Sakura."

"Right. Oh... I get it!" He smirked, gesturing at her hair. "Pink. Got it."

She dead-panned. "My parents weren't very creative..."

"Well whatever, you should check out the kendo club, we're both in it. Itachi's a lot better with the smaller swords we use, but I'm better at the bigger ones."

She finished the last bite of her small meal, pondering. Itachi was finished too, but Kisame, with his heartier appetite, still had a few bites left. "I've never tried kendo. I've tried a lot of other sports though, I guess I'd be good at it. I'll see if I can sign up for it."

"Good! We'll make sure you learn how it goes! Right, Itachi-san?" When Itachi didn't answer, Kisame only smirked and put a pear on Itachi's plate. Itachi looked up at him slowly.

"What am I supposed to do with that... Kisame?"

"What, you eat it, of course!"

"You know I don't like pears."

"You gotta get your fruits, you know!"

"Kisame, I don't want it."

"Hey, hey, I'm getting full, someone's got to eat it!"

"Just put it back."

"I already touched it."

"Nobody cares about that."

"Yeah but just look at it, it's just begging you to eat it!"

"I don't like pears."

Sakura reached over, plucking the pear from the plate and taking a bite. "Well I like pears."

Kisame spread his arms nonchalantly. "There, see? Problem solved. I think I'll like having her around, huh?"

Itachi only stayed as he was. "It doesn't matter."

Sakura was glad she had changed so much over the years. In years past, she would have been much like that girl that had come by earlier, eager to sit by the cutest guy in class. However, a few bitter rejections and a couple failures later, her personality had become more subdued, and she threw herself even more into her schoolwork, no longer afraid of showing she was just as good as any of the smarter guys. The intensity with which she had studied in high school had almost scared her parents, but they seemed to understand to some degree. Well, it didn't matter, she was far away from them now. "Hey, if you get my back, I'll get yours."

Kisame grinned wider. "Perfect! Thanks for the save, by the way. I never know the answers!"

She couldn't help but be a little puzzled. "How did you get into the class then?"

"Oh no, no, don't get me wrong! When it's on paper and I have time to solve it, it's alright! But damn, answering stuff on the spot like that, in front of everyone...! I can't do that!"

"I knew a few people like that before. And hey, you saved me too, you know!" Then her expression grew a bit annoyed. "Although it was your fault to begin with..."

He laughed. "I know, I know, sorry. Hey, I made up for it. And if you ever get puzzled when the Prof asks you something on the spot, I'm sure my bud here could help you out. Right, Itachi-san?"

Itachi inclined his head slightly. "If it is needed."

She huffed slightly with relief. "I'll take you up on that sometime. Geez, what was up with that new teacher though? She's crazy smart, going up to solve the last problem."

Kisame shook his head. "No clue on that one, she's really good." With a snicker, his eyebrows wriggled suggestively. "Sure seems that the Prof thinks she's pretty good too!"

Itachi scoffed. "I'm sure he's just nervous about teaching someone new."

"You kidding me Itachi-san?? Come on! You saw the way he was looking at her, it's so obvious!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah no kidding, but she wasn't really helping."

Itachi only stared at them blankly. "What do you mean?"

Kisame leaned a bit closer to her briefly, whispering. "He's not so good with the social stuff." He winced as Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly. Well, so much for whispering. "Anyway, this is good, the Prof needs a little excitement in his life, you know?"

"I'm not sure I can fathom that, Kisame..."

"Hey, you don't have to. What do you think, Sakura?"

She shrugged, her expression uncertain. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see."

"Yeah, I guess." The clock chimed one, lunch time over for the day. "Well hey, it was interesting and all, so we'll see you tomorrow in class. You find out about that kendo club, alright?"

With a wave, she moved on to her own class, still a bit curious about the interesting friends she had just made. Kisame took insults with good humor, and looked like he could give as good as he got. Itachi never said much, but he defended his friend with unrelenting loyalty. In return, Kisame did the same for him. They had a well established working relationship, built on many years of experience. She wasn't sure how she would be able to fit in the group with that hanging over her head, she barely knew them. However, she was optimistic. After all, tomorrow was another day.

* * *

Professor Pein was really hating his life right now. It was all due to the beautiful, intelligent woman sitting across from him in the lounge, her leg crossed primly over the other, eating her meal so delicately with those little chopsticks and... Snap out of it! It was enough to make his teeth want to grind. Damn it. Damn that cute little skirt. Damn those lovely, shapely legs, and and those long, elegant fingers and... He mentally slapped himself. He could get in serious trouble for fraternizing with an intern. Hell, he could get fired for that. Wait. This was a college, they might be a bit more lenient with it... He was immediately distracted by her uncrossing her legs, sitting a bit differently. Damn that perfect little curve of her waist.

They sat in complete silence, him eating mechanically, trying not to look at her chest or legs, and her eating coyly and trying not to stare at his handsome face. It was all she could do to not blush. Damn him and that intense stare of his, those mystifying eyes of his boring a hole right through the wall. She could lose her internship for consorting with a faculty member, and probably lose other potential internships in the process. Thus the meal continued, neither of them speaking for fear of so much potential loss. Damn it all.

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A/N: Whew. That was long. So, hope I didn't disappoint. These five will be the only major characters in the story. Quite often with AU school fics, people try to fit too many viewpoints into the same story. Not here, my friends. The story is based around these people. So. I'll be posting the link to the Sakura-chan Oekaki board and the pics that started this whole mess on my main page after I post this. Enjoy.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: It's fun to look around at other fics and see what people write. Sometimes people write the weirdest stuff, seriously, have you seen some of those epic crack pairings? Man. Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this so far. I own nothing but the thoughts in my brain, as insane as that may be.

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Three of a Kind - Ch. 2

"Here Itachi, have an apple."

"I don't like apples."

"Come on, just have one, they're good for you."

"I don't like apples, Kisame."

Somehow Sakura had happened upon Itachi and Kisame on her way to breakfast. Kisame had immediately insisted she join them, so once again the eating ritual went. She had now figured out that Itachi just wasn't fond of fruit, at least the sweeter kinds. He would eat the milder melon or a few blueberries, but more often than not he avoided fruit.

"Fine, eat this." Kisame shoved a pastry at his friend.

"I don't like pastries. They're too sweet."

"Well you gotta eat something! What will you eat?"

"I already ate." He gestured briefly to his empty plate.

"Yeah you ate pancakes and eggs. Why don't you at least get a vegetable, or put some fruit on your pancakes? You gotta eat better than that, man."

"They don't have any vegetables at breakfast, and I don't like sweet things on my pancakes."

It was true. He didn't even put any syrup on. Kisame sighed with exasperation. "Fine, just promise me you'll get a salad at lunch."

"The salad bar here is very good."

"I'll take that as a yes. And you better put tomatoes on it!"

"I hate tomatoes."

"Well... fine! Cucumbers!"

"Maybe."

Sakura mentally shook her head slowly. These two were hilarious, in a weird sort of way. Kisame obviously cared about the well-being of his friend but Itachi always ignored it or tried to brush it off. She would always be that person that sat in the middle of everything, watching but having no idea what to say. It was strange for a moment until Kisame jabbed the apple at her.

"Here, Sakura. Have an apple."

She took it politely. "Um... thank you." It really did look ripe and sweet, so once again she became the fruit martyr and took a few bites.

"There now, she's grateful! So what's your first class today, Sakura? I know we've got math every day but some of the classes rotate days."

"Well... I'm taking a basic cooking class, since I know after college I'm on my own and I don't know anything about cooking. I almost failed home ec in high school."

He stared at her incredulously. "Wow. But you passed, right?"

"I got a C, but only because I was good at the sewing and assembly part of the class, not the cooking. I really need to practice if I want to eat real food after college..."

Itachi spoke up softly. "I have that class as well."

She blinked with surprise at that. "You do? Why?"

He only shrugged. "I will also need to cook once college is over."

Kisame scoffed. "Hey man, I told you, I can cook you stuff once in a while, too."

Itachi stared coldly. "No. You'll just find a way to slip fruit into it."

"You like cranberries."

"Not with that much sugar in it."

"...you're impossible, Itachi-san."

* * *

Professor Pein stacked the last pile of papers on his desk, filing them away in a folder. Hopefully the lessons today will go a little easier. Yesterday after lunch had been... tiring. The tension she caused him was palpable, but she had fortunately stayed against the wall for the remaining lessons that day. He could think of other things he'd rather have her doing against the wall, and that was his current problem. It was like she was waiting to pounce. Just that burning look in her eyes was enough to make him sweat. Oh, he was going to give her extra credit, alright, why... No! Stop that! He couldn't afford to lose this really good job!

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Her voice startled him in the empty classroom, and though he made a show of putting things away, his mind roiled. Yes, she could start by getting over here by the desk so he could pin her down and... No! With a mental sigh, he resigned himself to letting her do something productive. He removed a small sheaf of papers and handed them to her. "If you like, you could try teaching this segment of the lesson today. It's not anything too difficult, just a summer refresher on polynomials."

She skimmed over the papers briefly. "Alright. I introduced myself to Mr. Katanawa, the one that's retiring. I was told that if my internship goes well, I would be taking over his position in the advanced algebra class."

"Oh, I forgot he was retiring. That sounds like a good opportunity for you. You'd have a chance to meet our students, too, and let them get used to you before taking the position." That, and she would be around more often, which meant more stress, and more opportunities to lose it, but he didn't say that...

"Right, it's much better that way." Damn it, though. He practically exuded masculine sexiness. She had no idea why she had been so quickly attracted to him, though she remembered pheromones from biology class. Was that it? No, no, he had something special, some kind of _presence_ here. Maybe it was the fact that she could tell he was restraining himself. It didn't take long to figure it out. That was the reason she had willingly distanced herself, not wanting to interfere with his work. Yes, he was holding in his own peculiar attraction, and damn everything for being so complicated! As he ran a hand through his hair tiredly, her eyes followed. Damn that daring orange hair, always spiking up like some kind of rebel's hair.

"There's not much else to do before the class starts, unless you want to look over the papers."

She started slightly, realizing she had been staring at his eyes again. They were so commanding, hypnotic. "No, I'm sure that I'll be alright with the lesson plan. Polynomials are pretty easy. I was actually hoping to look around the campus a bit more, I didn't get a very good look the past couple days during the brief tours. Is there a decent gym facility, and a pool?"

He stifled another choke. Just the thought of her in a swimsuit... "Yes, we have both, along with an outdoor and indoor running track. The indoor one is also the main gym, so it's used for other things too." Pause. Well, this silence was... awkward.

"That's good, I'd like to check out the gym area, I'll probably be using it a lot. Would you mind showing the way?"

He didn't expect that she would be the athletic type, but now that he looked at her legs again... No! Stop looking at those! They are dangerous! "Alright. I was thinking of using it myself before class." As his back was turned, he missed the dangerous look in her eyes at the thought of what sort of muscles might lie underneath the standard white dress shirt and red tie. This was going to be a long year.

* * *

Sakura stared at her pile of chopped celery with disappointment. That didn't look minced. It looked like a mess. Next to her, Itachi already had his celery in a neat little pile, perfectly minced. So much for trying to do well on the first day. Maybe she would get better with time. Maybe. Itachi watched her struggle with the chopping and stepped over to her.

"Here, try it like this..." Without even the slightest hesitation, he grabbed her hands and repositioned them on the board, the celery straight and neat, the blade at a right angle. "Don't chop straight down with that kind of knife, do it like this." He moved the blade down, then out, slowly, guiding her to the right position. Before long, her celery looked much neater.

She blushed slightly from his lack of reserve, but he just didn't seem to care as long as the job was done right. Her blush furthered when she saw glares from other girls suddenly point in her direction. How dare _she_, of all people, get all the attention of the famous Uchiha? However, she had never asked for it- and in this case, didn't really want it- but was at least thankful that her errors had been corrected. "Um... thanks, Itachi."

He only moved back to his own spot. "You should pay more attention to the directions." She only muttered to herself and went back to chopping the damn celery.

* * *

Pein was certain that somewhere, up there, there was a deity having a very good laugh at his expense. He had hoped that the physical strain of weight lifting would take his mind off of her for once, but once she took off her jacket and changed into athletic clothes, he found that her toned muscles distracted him far more than any mere bench press. Little did he know, she was giving him the same kind of once-over. Most of his spare time was spent on keeping in shape, not having much to do as a single man living in an apartment. As for Konan, she took great value in keeping herself well.

Right now, though, Konan hated her life. Here was this gorgeous, well built man, his muscles flexing as he lifted those weights over and over, starting to sweat and struggle as the repetitions continued. She huffed quietly, going over to stand next to the press. "You should really have a spotter, you know."

Pein somehow had enough focus to place the bar back on the rack. "Well maybe you should take that job." She didn't say anything to that, going behind his head and held out her hands, ready to catch it if he dropped it. He wondered if she could catch it if he dropped it. However, though he tried to focus on moving the weight, he noticed that with her leaning over the bar like that, he got... a really good view. Yes, very nice...

"Hey, careful!" Her hands shot out to grab the bar as it slipped from his hands. Sure enough, she caught it and placed it on the floor. It was pretty obvious that he couldn't do much more. Hands on her hips indignantly, she walked around until she was next to him, bending far enough to nearly get in his face. "Are you nuts? You need to be paying more attention when you're doing that! What was it that was so interesting that you lost your grip? Huh?"

She looked irritated, staring down beyond those cute glasses, her thin brows pinched together so perfectly... What could he say? He liked the way she looked when she was angry. He didn't know how much longer he could stand this torture. His mouth seemed to defy his every will. "You..."

"Me? What did I do?"

Once again, his body rebelled against him, his hand gripping the back of her neck, her face just inches away. "You... you're just too damn sexy." His mind flailed uselessly in the back of his brain, his subconscious mind taking over his every action as he pulled her even closer, kissing her with complete abandon. It was completely wrong, and he knew it. She was old enough, sure, but this... no, there definitely had to be something wrong with this. Fire seemed to spread all over when he kissed her like this, the sense of complete _wrongness_ being utterly engulfed by the raging flames.

As soon as the kiss ended, there was a long, awkward silence. She was blushing furiously, but she regained enough of her composure to retort at his comment. "Well... you're not exactly making this easier either." With that, she grabbed her bag and walked out the door. Well, he thought to himself, maybe that wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

The dean sighed, staring across at the student wearily. "Not again, Kisame..."

Kisame chuckled nervously, sitting in the chair across from the dean's desk, shrugging. "Nah, nah, it's not what it looks like. I'm not with those guys anymore, I graduated, you know? I just went to say hi for old time's sake, but hey, I never started anything."

"That may be, but your old gang is still causing a lot of problems in this town. As their former leader, I'm sure you could talk sense into them."

"I could never talk those guys into anything anymore. Once you graduate, you're out. It's only because I was in such standing with those guys that I can still influence anything at all. Before I talked with them, they were gonna do much worse, believe me."

"I don't doubt it. Is there any way, though, that you could talk to their leader, and maybe see if they can at least take their trouble somewhere less populated?"

Kisame stretched briefly. "Well, not really, I'm not so good with that diplomatic stuff. That's Itachi's game, you know. You'd be better off getting him to do it. I mean, it's his brother, after all."

"True, he is. I'm just not so sure that I can make Itachi understand the... ah... gravity of the situation."

Kisame understood what he meant. Though Itachi was a genius, he was more or less socially clueless. He wouldn't really get why it was such a problem to have the gangs running around causing trouble. After all, it didn't concern him. However, Kisame had known him a long time. "No sweat, sir, I'll have a chat with Itachi. I'm sure I can find a way to figure it out."

"Thank you, Kisame. You'd better go on to class before you're late."

* * *

Pein glanced over the half-asleep room with a frown. He was not in the mood to tolerate this. His hand slammed down on the podium, bringing the sleepers to attention. "It's not nap time yet! Now get out your books. This is college, so you'll be expected to work for your grade!"

As soon as he turned his back to write an example on the board, Sakura turned to Itachi and Kisame, whispering. "Geez, what's gotten into him?"

Itachi shrugged slightly. "Maybe he's not feeling well."

Kisame chuckled knowingly. "Nah. That guy just needs to get laid BIG TIME."

Itachi scoffed. "That's what you always say about all the crabby professors."

"That's because it's true!"

"I honestly don't understand why having intercourse would improve his mood."

Kisame hit his forehead with his palm, giving up on the subject. "Geez, whatever man, I'm not gonna explain it to you. You gotta just find things out first hand sometimes."

Pein pointed to the board imperiously, trying very hard to ignore the intense gaze from Konan. "Now, does anyone know how to solve this one?"

Sakura knew how, but she was just too lazy. To her surprise, Kisame raised his hand, grinning. "Hey, yeah, I know that one!" He rummaged for a piece of chalk at the board and began writing. Behind, Sakura leaned over towards Itachi.

"I thought he didn't like going up to the board."

"Only when he doesn't know the solution right away. He's good with this kind of problem though."

It was a pretty simple refresher, just integers and absolute values, with some practice with square roots. Nothing really exciting. "This class is so boring."

"Perhaps you should take the advanced class next time. I will have that class as well, though Kisame won't be there."

She shrugged. "Yeah, no offense, but I don't know how well he'd do. He seems to do alright in this class, though, once everything is down on paper and he has time to figure it out."

"That is the problem. The advanced class revolves a lot on presentations and making your own problems. He can't really do that as much. If the advanced class just had problems on paper, he would have no trouble keeping up."

She was a little surprised. "He's really smart, I didn't expect that, you know."

"Few people do. But then, expecting is just assuming, and that is foolish."

His insight wasn't so surprising, but she nodded, thinking it over. "I've learned not to expect anything, and just make of it whatever I can."

"Sometimes that's all we can do."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I'm not sure how to add conflict without over-dramatizing. So. Feedback is appreciated.

Three of a Kind - Ch. 3

Sakura joined the kendo club just as Itachi and Kisame had suggested. It wasn't much like any other sport she had played, but fortunately she had the strength for it. She spent so much time in the gym and outside in high school that she had built up plenty of muscle. Tomboy, perhaps, but she could hold her own against the boys, whether it be in tennis or in baseball. There had even been a ladies division for wrestling, and she had tried that too. However, most of the girls in her school had been too frail or too prissy or something, so she didn't have a wide range of opponents. Kisame would help her practice, she was sure of that. Now there was a good opponent!

She supposed Itachi would be a fair opponent too, she guessed as she watched him spar with the other more experienced fighters. He had liked kendo since he was very young, or so she heard. His form was flawless after so many years of practice. With so little experience herself, she was already tired and bruised, waiting on the sidelines until Itachi and Kisame were finished. It was still hot outside, the late summer attacking with a vengeance. Fanning herself, she knew she needed something cold. Maybe they would too.

"Guys, I'll be back, alright?" Kisame took the time to wave, while Itachi kept fighting his sparring partner. Figures. Oh well, it didn't matter, he would still be here when she got back. The heat hindered her tired, sore progress, but she made it into town and found someone selling shaved ice treats. Her college, like many colleges, sat in the center of town, near just about anything that a college student might need. This shop was so close to the school she knew the ice would barely start to melt by the time she got back. What flavor did they like? she wondered. Itachi didn't like fruits, especially sweet ones, so she picked out sour lemon. For herself, she picked out a plum flavor, and peach for Kisame. He did like sweet things, so at least that was settled.

Even the air was still and sluggish in the warmth, but walking the way back moved the air enough to cool her off somewhat. Sure enough, Itachi was still hitting away at his opponent, though the poor other guy looked like he had wanted to stop ages ago. Sakura waved, a welcome intervention. "Hey, Itachi, break time! Come on, I got you guys something!"

She almost wished she had gotten Itachi's sparring partner something, the poor guy looked like he was on the brink of collapse. Both Itachi and Kisame came over, and Itachi looked at the snow cones suspiciously. "I hope the peach one is for Kisame..."

Taking a bite out of her own snow cone, she nodded. "It is, I got you sour lemon."

"...I love sour things." He took his cone gratefully, the heat of the day flushing his pale face. Kisame looked just as worn out and overheated, and he grinned wide at the prospect of a snow cone.

"Hey, you know just the kind I like! How'd you know that peach was my favorite?"

She only shrugged. "Just a guess, but I thought that with all the fruit-pushing you do on Itachi, you probably like sweet things yourself. That, and strawberry just didn't seem macho enough for you!"

"Ugh, you got that right. Any girlier than peach and I'd be a laughing stock!"

Itachi nodded his approval. "This is very good."

"Thanks for getting these for us."

She only fanned herself, slouching. "No problem, this heat is awful. I don't know how you guys can stand to go out and do kendo all afternoon like this."

"It gets better in the winter, gives you a way to warm up."

"Yeah, just need to get ready for the test and... Itachi, what the hell are you doing?"

Itachi was crouched next to a bush, peering into it. "There's a cat in there."

She kneeled nearby, peering into the bush also. Sure enough, there was a small cat, a little gray tabby. Probably homeless, it didn't have a collar. "Looks like a stray. Better leave it alone."

Kisame tapped Itachi's shoulder. "Let it be, man. Can't interfere with nature." Itachi rose reluctantly, and they gathered up the items left from practice. All the other students had gone in already, and the sun was starting to go down in the sky. Strange, Sakura thought. Who would have guessed that Itachi liked animals?

* * *

Sakura stared out her window with a sigh. Her math class wasn't until eleven, but outside it was still dark as night even at 9:30 in the morning. The sky was choked with dark, low rain clouds, heavy rain falling in sheets. She was so dumb, why hadn't she thought to bring an umbrella with her to college? This college was in a different climate, it wasn't sunny all the time like it was back home. Stupid, stupid! Why hadn't she done more research?

Her room mate had left almost right away in the year, wanting a room to herself, so Sakura was all alone in her dorm. It was quiet, save for the tapping of rain on the window outside. With a groan, she shoved on her shoes and gathered her things. Damn it all, she didn't even have a poncho. Well, she would just have to show up wet to have breakfast with the boys. Not like they would care. With one last sigh, she flicked off the light and headed down the hallway, locking her door on the way out. Hopefully it would at least not be a cold rain. She shivered just thinking about it.

As soon as she exited the main door, standing there in the rain, waiting for her, Kisame stood silently, holding a wide umbrella. Her eyes widened, blinking in disbelief. He never came out to get her. Before she could ask, he offered his trademark grin. "Itachi told me you came from a different climate, and I figured you'd be unprepared for days like this, right?"

Her small smile grew wider. "Kisame... that's really nice of you. I had no idea how rainy it could get here."

"Every few days or so, at least in late summer like this. Good thing, or we'd all pass out in the heat, as warm as it gets here. Well, let's go, we don't want to miss breakfast. I thought I'd expire from hunger out here!"

"Itachi didn't come?"

Kisame sighed. "He can be considerate, but more towards people he's known longer. He didn't see the point in coming if I was going too, so he went to hold our usual spots. Besides, I can come see you without him tagging along, right?"

She laughed lightly, walking to his side gratefully. "Sure, why not? We're friends too, you can come see me whenever you like." Without a second thought, she held on to his arm, sheltering under the umbrella. He seemed slightly startled by the closeness, but he only tightened his grip on her arm in reassurance. As simple as it was, this subtle contact was just enough to lighten her mood on the way.

* * *

A week or so passed with little change. Pein and Konan were still giving each other intense stares during lessons, Itachi was still avoiding fruit like the plague, and Kisame was still doing his best not to be at the chalkboard. However, during one of the days that followed, something happened that none of the three could forget.

"Pipe down you two!" Kisame swatted back at the other two hiding just under one of the school's windows. "Shh! They'll hear you!"

Kisame, Sakura and Itachi were currently camped under a window, spying in on two of the school's lovebirds. Sakura covered her mouth to keep from giggling, but Itachi spared no such caution. "I still don't understand why-"

Kisame clamped his hand over Itachi's mouth. "Shut up! Do you have a death wish or something?" With Itachi silenced, he looked over the window sill along with the other two. Inside, the usually very stiff and serious Professor Pein had a rather wanton Konan pinned against the wall, kissing her quite passionately. With a quiet chuckle, Kisame nodded to Itachi. "See, I told you! You just wait and see, tomorrow he'll be right as rain."

Itachi was unconvinced. "Are you sure about that?"

Sakura smiled hopefully. "It might just work."

Kisame grinned wide. "I know it will. Now come on, let's get out of here before they kill us and eat our remains." He missed seeing Sakura slap her forehead at his weird remark, but she was sure he somehow knew she had done it anyway.

* * *

"How is it that kissing Konan is going to help the professor?" Itachi leaned against the outer wall of the school, under a tree. Kisame leaned there as well, with Sakura sitting on top next to Itachi.

Sakura understood this subject well enough. "Because kissing someone is fun. It's enjoyable."

Kisame smirked at her. "Oh really? You mean you've tried it?"

She blushed slightly. "Um... well... only once... but it was nice."

"Geez, it must be. None of the gals here or anywhere come near a guy like me. Hell, if my face doesn't scare em, the second I grin they run away. I guess I'm just scary, huh?"

"I don't think you're scary." She missed the surprised look on Kisame's face when Itachi spoke up.

"So by kissing a woman, which he enjoys, he is... having fun? Yes, having fun can improve your mood."

Kisame grimaced at Itachi's clueless intervention. "Yeah, maybe you should try it sometime." Pause. Several seconds ticked by with none of them speaking, not even moving. Then, before any of them could react, Itachi was kissing Sakura. The next few events happened in sequence so suddenly, none of them were sure what order they transpired in. Sakura blushed furiously, Kisame gaped and started to pull Itachi back. Before he could, Sakura's hand connected with Itachi's face in a quick slap, and Itachi drew back with a still-emotionless face. He turned to Kisame, confused.

"That wasn't fun."

Before Sakura could slap him again with disdain, Kisame grabbed him by the shirt, shaking him once. "You idiot, you don't just go kissing any random girl! It has to be someone that's special to you, someone you have feelings for!"

"...feelings?"

"Yeah, you know... someone you love."

Sakura was still blushing red, though most of it was from Itachi's brusque behavior. "Yeah, I mean, I know you trust me and all, but... it's gotta be someone really special."

Kisame nodded at that. "Right. And you just don't go up and kiss her like that, you need to... uh... you know, make it more personal."

Itachi was still puzzled. "How do you do that?"

Sakura blushed a little more. "Kisame, he's not going to get it unless he has an example."

"Yeah, he just has to learn like that." He shook his head slowly. "I don't know what to do about it."

"W-well... we could try and show him."

His eyes widened, staring at her. "Huh? Y-you mean... oh. You sure you wanna do that?"

Her blush deepened. "J-just do it before I change my mind!" Both of them missed Itachi's knowing smirk.

He gulped visibly, glancing once at Itachi before standing next to her. She was barely above him, as tall as he was, and he blushed at the prospect of kissing her. True, he had grown fond of her in the days since they first met, and she hadn't been scared of him at all. Though he had often thought about kissing her, he never thought he would get the chance. Now, he was resolved in trying to make this as good as possible. "A-alright... well... First you should look her in the eye. And... you know, tell her she's special, or let her know somehow. However you decide to do that is alright, as long as it comes from the heart." Trying to regain his normal heartbeat and failing, he leaned closer to her, looking her in the eye and putting one of his hands on hers. "It's against my code of honor to kiss a lady without her permission."

She scoffed lightly, trying to clear the tension. "I already gave it."

Itachi frowned slightly. "Just kiss her already."

Kisame was considerably flustered. "Hey, quiet, you! It's also against my code of honor to kiss a girl if I don't really mean it, so..." He looked up at Sakura, his gaze for once clear of anything but open consideration. "Well, for the record, I mean it. So--"

He was cut off by her other hand resting lightly on one side of his face, bringing him to attention as she spoke quietly. "It's alright. I... kinda mean it too." His eyes widened briefly before closing as she leaned closer, kissing him lightly. His shy kiss was much different from Itachi's strange but warm kiss, and definitely different from Shikamaru's blatantly observational kiss. This one had a real, if subtle emotion behind it, like he had wanted to do this for a long time. She would admit to herself that she had wondered from time to time how he might kiss. Finding out, though, was a small thrill. He was strong and firm, though at the same time gentle. Though she expected the kiss to end at the small, chaste stage, it didn't. Something kept her there, made her want more.

Kisame wasn't completely sure why he didn't let go of the kiss, only making it deeper. All he knew right now was that he had wanted to do this for a long time, and if she was going to make things more interesting, he would gladly oblige. Reluctantly, he finally drew back for breath, and noticed that she was left just as breathless as he was. What did this mean?

"So that's how it works." Itachi nodded slowly. "I think I understand."

Kisame pried his eyes away to glance at Itachi. "Y-you do?"

"Yes. Heartbeat and respiration increase, but this did not happen during my experiment. The Professor and Konan seemed to have the same effect. It is a necessary part of a proper kiss."

"Right..." His gaze drifted back again to Sakura, though his heart caught in his throat at her expression. Her eyes were wide with an intense stare, full of an undisguised _want_ and something else he didn't want to come to terms with right now. She wanted more. _Now_. "Uh... hey, Itachi, you wanna go find some books for our bio class? We should study for the test tonight."

"The test isn't for another two weeks."

Kisame sent a brief glare. "Humor me."

"Alright. I'll be sure to find a good selection." Itachi pushed himself off the wall, walking away briskly. As soon as he was out of earshot, he smirked to himself. "Good. All according to plan."

Once Itachi was out of sight, Sakura put both her hands on Kisame's face. "What was that? What just happened?"

He shook his head slowly. "I don't know." His hand splayed across her lower back, he pulled her closer into another kiss. This time it was deeper, it held something behind it that neither could contemplate at the moment. He knew he was falling for her. So many strange things had been happening lately. Strangest of all, though, was that she didn't resist him in the least. Being accepted was not something he was used to. In the past, he gained respect by being the strongest, by beating it into them. Now, however, was exactly the opposite. This came through only being who he was, coming to a mutual understanding.

The brief but intense kiss ended as Sakura pulled back with a smile. She couldn't think of anything to say, but she believed that saying something would spoil the moment. Sometimes just letting things be was enough. Just being here, in the shade on a warm day, the sun not the only source of the warmth that surged through her... it was enough. She just rested her forehead against his, not knowing where this would lead. Would it get easier, or more complicated? Uncertainty aside, she smiled to herself. Whatever would be, would be.

* * *

A/N: I know I haven't posted ANYTHING in FOREVER. Forgive me. If you spent 40 hours a week typing, you wouldn't want to type either.


End file.
